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Without a doubt, e-commerce in Morocco is experiencing a peak of
interest. Over the last seven years, we’ve seen, at my startup
Synergie Media, an explosion in demand for online payment options.
And every time I speak at entrepreneurship events, I get at least
one question on e-commerce. It's high time to do an overview of the
sector.

A few figures

The country counts more than 6.9 million internet subscribers,
according to the National Agency for
Regulation of Telecommunications (ANRT), with average quarterly
increases of 10.6%, and yearly increases of 57.3%. By the end of
March 2014, the internet penetration rate had stabilized at 19.45%,
meaning that 16 million Moroccans – around one in five – had
internet access. Interestingly mobile internet exceeded DSL in
terms of sheer number of registrations; mobile internet now
represents 86% of the market share.

According to Maroc Telecommerce, the first e-commerce
operator in the country, the amount of purchases and payment online
has increased from $3.8 million USD in 2008 to $90 million USD in
2012, with more than 1.25 million transactions on the platform
alone. The Interbank Monetary
Center (CMI) also reported high figures, claiming that 9.5
million credit cards were in circulation in 2013, and more than 171
million online bill pay transactions were undertaken between
January and September 2013, totaling $17.7 billion USD.

In a nutshell, these figures mean that a) more Moroccans than
ever have regular access to the internet, b) Moroccan banks are
issuing more credit cards than ever before, and c) More Moroccans
than ever are paying their bills online.

The market players

So, who’s benefiting from this boom? The answer is both
traditional banks and the new e-payment players and
e-retailers.

Theonline
payment service provider (PSP): The first Moroccan
PSP was Maroc Telecommerce (MTC) which has been operating since
2001 as an initiative led by an organization of several banks. The
last months have seen some new faces; the most publicized of which
is, without a doubt, AmanPay, which seeks to position itself
an alternative solution to e-payment. The launch of these new
services hasn’t been quiet, as we explained in a January
article.

The Interbank Monetary Center
(CMI): Founded by nine Moroccan banks, the CMI is an
organization mandated by the banks to regulate payment systems in
Morocco. When they bought MTC, the CMI created a de facto monopoly
that has been under fire. Wamda
reviewed the situation back in January.

The banks: There’s no doubt that the banks
have one thing on their minds: to promote as much as possible the
use of the internet to boost online transactions, and account
management. To do so, they’ve created a variety of iOS and Android
applications, and have broadened the
array of credit cards available. Credit cards for purchases on
national websites now carry annual fees of around $6 USD, whereas
those for purchases on international websites cost around $13 USD
per year.

The e-retailers: According a
report recently published by Averty in collaboration with The
Nexties, Moroccans mostly purchase deals and travel online, then,
to a lesser extent, electronics and clothing; they also pay bills
and use web services. Read more figures here.

The growth of Moroccan e-commerce could be even faster if its
availability and the demand for it hadn’t been slowed by many
factors.

The administrative procedures needed to implement an online
e-payment platform are too complicated and expensive for
micro-enterprises and craft and agricultural cooperatives to go
online. These procedures need to be simplified and the costs must
be lessened.

Retailers must also make the effort to translate their websites
into Arabic, a untapped high-potential sector, and focus more on
mobile.

Efforts must also be made to improve user experience and build
trust. This could start with more transparency, for instance
displaying the company’s address, certificates, and logo of the
company’s PSP, and implementing a messaging service for the clients
to chat with the people in charge.

E-commerce could also benefit from better communication,
especially on social networks. A better use of these mediums could
enable the e-retailers to spread the word about their websites and
to turn clients into brand ambassadors.

The seeds of a promising market

The evolution of the available offers, the focus on security,
and the arrival of new players all speak to the market’s great
potential. We’ve already talked about the payment service provider,
but you also have to account for new off-the-beaten-path retailers,
like e-deli Maroc Terroir or fair trade website Blad
Lkhir.

Another promising fact is the growing focus on online security.
The 09-08 law regarding the protection of personal data
requires websites and PSPs to protect users’ data against abuse and
theft. Also, in April, banks began launching a 3D Secure
authentication system, in order to limit fraud and insure clients
and retailers. This new system requires a special code to verify
user identity for online transactions, in addition to the credit
card number, expiration date, and cryptogram.